Taichung

Saturday, July 31st, 2010

We actually go to Taichung every week, but it's for church and so we finally ventured out there on a Saturday! It's a big city and I will be going there a lot on future Saturdays. (Taichung is also where I went to do KTV.)

This is us waiting, yet again, at the train station. I don't know how long we will continue to take pictures every time we wait for a train, but while it lasts I post the cute ones.

Right to Left: Erin, Laura, Libby, Meg, Katy, Kristi, Whitney

We had a few options for lunch, but we all wanted to try a local oddity, "Modern Toilet". Yes, your food is served in mini toilets/urinals/bathtubs/squatters/sinks. There is an odd obsession with the subject that they have here in Taiwan (and other Asian countries, I've heard). You also sit on toilets and eat off of sinks/bathtubs.

Erin and Whitney sitting down at our bathtub-table.

We shared a huge thing of chocolate shaved-ice with all the works (the actual ice cream on top was amazing).

Yes, that is a squatter we ate out of.

In Taiwan it doesn't really matter if you eat dessert first, it's all on the same menu and you pay first. (I guess if you wanted to pay again you could order it last, but . . .)

Here's my fruit juice that tasted like a jolly rancher and had kiwi and other chunks of real fruit at the bottom.

Yes, that is a urinal I'm drinking out of.

Our utensils came in this little envelope. Chopsticks for more Asian dishes and forks and spoons for the more European dishes (all of which were amazing . . . once you got over what you were eating out of . . .).

Our meal came with individual desserts. Again, served in a squatter . . .

After our Modern Toilet experience we split up for some shopping. Whitney showed us a store where we got 5 pairs of 'flat-shoe-socks' for 80 NT ($2.5). They are cute and are supposed to show!

I then dragged Kristi to a music store where I bought the latest KAT-TUN CD (still determining if that was worth it). I always tend to drag Kristi into music stores . . . sorry Kristi!

This was a very random (from my view) cut-out of the character of Goo Joon Pyo from a Korean drama based off of a Japanese Manga, Hana Yori Dango. I found it random because it was outside of a cosmetics store . . . you just don't find that in the US ;)

We then took a taxi to a different part of Taichung and went to a great park where I did 'water zorbing.' The park itself was beautiful! (as all parks here tend to be) and we actually saw people hanging out on the grass (usually a taboo thing to do), we even saw a father and son playing catch!

This next set of pictures are of me water zorbing. It was hard, but way fun! I think it might have been easer if it had been inflated more, but you don't really want the pressure. At first the temp. was fine, but as I started releasing more energy it got hotter and hotter (it is an air tight ball after all). I did attempt to do a cartwheel, but found it imposible for me, I did do a lot of summer-salts ;)

There's also a video at the bottom of this post, I couldn't figure out how to move it up.

I was literally dripping by the end! Check out how red my face got!

Later, I cat-napped.

Near this bench is an odd sculpture of a father and son. A nice couple asked me to take their picture with it . . . and then asked if they could take a picture of me and the man standing next to it . . . this is the second time someone has asked to take a picture with me . . . odd . . . yep, odd.

I just can't quite get away from imitating sculptures ;)

If you scroll back up to the scenic pictures of the park, you will notice a 'wavy' bridge, this is the top of it. It's a lot steeper than it looks. (I was looking at the cute turtles below)

Some guy offered to take a group picture for us at the edge of the bridge.

(the Taiwanese love to make sure you get a good picture ;)

Starting from me counter clockwise: Katy, Kristi, Meg, Whitney, Libby, Laura, Erin

We just couldn't resist the frame!

Starting from me clockwise: Katy, Erin, Laura, Libby, Meg, Kristi

Left to Right: Laura, Libby, Meg, Kristi, Katy, Erin

Finally, we went to COSTCO!!!

As with everything here in Taiwan there were a tone of people, but I dare say that the whole store was actually bigger than the ones in the US (although, not if you include the US parking lot vs. the Taiwan parking garage, but yes, if you consider the whole first story is the food court).

The menu is basically the same as the ones in the US. However, while they don't have a plain cheese pizza, they do have Peaking Duck and Seafood. I had a good old Hawaiian and Sprite (total cost: 80 NT).

It looked and even smelled like a COSTCO! (and the bathrooms were the best real toilets I've been to . . . in fact I don't think I've been anywhere, besides the church, that had an exclusively toilet bathroom, even McDonalds only has one real toilet!)

I didn't end up getting the Pocky, but I did get the chocolate chips ;) Oatmeal with chocolate chips and peanut butter here I come!!!!!

This is the cart full of the food for all seven of us. Typical costco cart, yes? Not in Taiwan. The typical cart [with exclusively food] barely covered the bottom! When we went to have our receipt checked the poor girl kept saying 'All seven in one?!'

I ended up getting chocolate chips, an 8 pack of spaghetti, a block of sharp cheddar, a bag of raw almonds, and a Jay Chou CD/DVD. All of which I cannot find in normal Taiwan, or, in the case of the spaghetti, is difficult to find, or, in the case of Jay Chou, was, as per typical COSTCO, cheaper! (it was actually less then the plain CD of KAT-TUN I got earlier! just over $10 US!)

Well, it was an eventful day! That night I did a language exchange with two girls, Megan and Esther. They were kinda shy, but seem really fun, I can't wait to get to know them more!

The Water Zorbing Vid.

Kristi is filming and you can hear her and Laura giving commentary.

P.S. Yes, after my language exchange, and due to the weight of my COSTCO items, I took a taxi from the train station to home (which we 'easily' walk to and from) and, yes, it cost me 100 NT ($3ish). Do I regret this? ask my shoulder(s). They say No! I don't know how the other girls did it! Kudos to their persevering, and not throwing away good 'bing sha' money ;)